Method and apparatus for providing a gift using a mobile communication network and system including the apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a system for providing a gift icon using a communication network. The system includes: a user terminal configured to receive information about products, select a product, and receive information about a selection of at least one receipt terminal to receive the selected product, information about whether the receipt terminal receives a gift icon corresponding to the selected product or not, and information about whether the gift icon has been used or not; and a gift provision apparatus configured to provide the information about products to the user terminal, provide the gift icon to the receipt terminal, and manage downloading, using, and usable period expiring of the gift icon.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 12/161,303 filed Jul. 17, 2008, which is the national phaseentry of international Application No. PCT/KR07/01155, filed Mar. 8,2007, which is based upon and claims the benefits of priorities under 35U.S.C. §119(a) of Patent Application No. 10-2006-0120688, filed on Dec.1, 2006, Patent Application No. 10-2006-0120678, filed on Dec. 1, 2006and Patent Application No. 10-2006-0120684, filed on Dec. 1, 2006 inKorea, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein byreference. In addition, this non-provisional application claimspriorities in countries, other than the U.S., with the same reason basedon the Korean Patent Applications, the entire contents of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to a method of providing a giftusing a communication network and, more particularly, to a method andapparatus for providing a gift icon using a communication network, whichtransmit and receive the gift icon in a lump or selectively using thecommunication network and an address book and a system including theapparatus.

BACKGROUND

Generally, a person, such as an insurance canvasser or a salesman, or acompany which must continuously manage a number of customers provides agift at appropriate intervals in order to maintain friendship orconnectedness with a number of customers.

In order to provide a small gift to respective customers, whether thecustomers' addresses are changed must be determined and, if the changeof addresses has not been determined in time, and then a gift isdelivered, the gift is sent back, so that there is a problem in that anunnecessary shipping charge must be paid.

Furthermore, when a gift is transmitted through the Internet, and thereare a number of recipients which will receive the gift, it is necessaryto repeatedly write the postal codes and telephone numbers of the senderor recipients and delivery method, and a database for recording whoreceived a gift, when the gift was provided, which gift was provided, isnot prepared, so that, when information about this is required, there isa problem in that much time and effort are required.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a system for providing a gift icon using acommunication network includes at least: a user terminal configured toreceive information about products, select a product, and receiveinformation about a selection of at least one receipt terminal toreceive the selected product, information about whether the receiptterminal receives a gift icon corresponding to the selected product ornot, and information about whether the gift icon has been used or not;and a gift provision apparatus configured to provide the informationabout products to the user terminal, provide the gift icon to thereceipt terminal, and manage downloading, using, and usable periodexpiring of the gift icon.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing a gift using acommunication network according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a third embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 5 to 10 are diagrams illustrating examples of a web or a wap pageaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting andreceiving a gift icon using a messenger according to a fourth embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting andreceiving a gift icon using a messenger according to a fifth embodimentof the present disclosure;

FIGS. 13 to 20 are diagrams illustrating a web or a wap page forillustration of the method of transmitting and receiving a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 21 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 22 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a seventh embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 23 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to an eighth embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIGS. 24 to 33 are diagrams illustrating a wap page for illustration ofthe method of providing a gift icon using a mobile terminal according toembodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the samereference numerals are used throughout the different drawings todesignate the same or similar components.

Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure are described below withreference to the accompanying drawings.

The present disclosure has been made keeping in mind the above problemsoccurring in the prior art, and an object of the present disclosure isto provide a method and apparatus for providing a gift using acommunication network which are in conjunction with an address book, andprovide a gift to the entire address book, at least one group of theaddress book, or at least one address individually selected from theaddress book and a system including the apparatus.

In order to accomplish the above object, another object of the presentdisclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for transmitting andreceiving a gift using a messenger which provides or asks for a gifticon to or from a counterpart terminal connected through the messengerin real time.

In order to accomplish the above object, still another object of thepresent disclosure is to provide a method, apparatus and system forproviding a gift using a mobile terminal which provide a gift iconcorresponding to the product to a plurality of receipt terminals throughthe mobile terminal in a lump.

As described above, according to the method and apparatus for providinga gift using a communication network and the system including theapparatus of the present disclosure, an insurance canvasser, a FinancialConsultant or a financial manager which must continuously manage anumber of customers send gifts in a lump using an address book, so thatthere in an advantage in that time and effort required to provide giftsare dramatically reduced.

For products provided in a gift provision service as well as forlow-price products the price of which is lower than a charge fordelivery, or a charge for delivery of which is a burden, it isadvantageous to provide or ask for gifts in real time, therebyactivating business on the Internet.

The present disclosure are advantageous to transmit gift iconscorresponding to the products to a plurality of terminal in a lumpthrough a mobile terminal, and to easily provide the telephone numbersand e-mail information of the plurality of receipt terminals using anaddress book registered in a gift provision apparatus or stored in thememory of the mobile terminal without individually inputting thetelephone numbers or e-mails by a user.

Furthermore, the present disclosure provides a function of providing agift icon for return when a gift icon is received, thereby improvingconvenience of users and activating transaction of products through gifticons.

Furthermore, the gift provision apparatus manages the usable period,download, and use of the gift icon, thereby prohibiting the gift iconfrom being used again, and it is possible to acquire a particularproduct by requesting settlement for a particular gift for a counterpartterminal regardless of financial ability.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing a gift using acommunication network according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

The gift provision system includes a user terminal 100, a gift provisionapparatus 300, a receipt terminal 500, an affiliated shop terminal 600and a settlement server 700.

The user terminal 100 includes a wired terminal 110 and a mobileterminal 130, is in conjunction with an address book stored in thememory of a user terminal, or an address book stored in thepredetermined area of the gift provision apparatus 300, requests theprovision of a gift for each group included in the address book, andreceives information about whether to receive or use the gift.

The gift provision apparatus 300 provides URL (Unique Resource Locator)information, in which information about a product is stored, to the userterminal 100, provides a gift icon corresponding to the product, to theaddress book selected by the user terminal 100, and manages thedownload, use, and usable period expiration of the gift icon.

The gift provision apparatus 300 includes an address-book managementmodule 310, a product information management module 320, a gift iconmanagement module 330, a control module 340, a communication module 350,and a database 360 which stores and manages an address book, informationabout products, and information related to gift icons.

The address-book management module 310 manages an address book whichincludes at least one of the telephone number and e-mail address of amobile terminal and consists of at least one group, and provides theaddress book at the request of the user terminal 100.

The product information management module 320 provides productinformation about products to be provided as a gift, or URL informationcorresponding to the product information to the user terminal 100.

The gift icon management module 330 manages and provides a gift iconcorresponding to a product, and manages whether the gift, selected basedon the product information, is provided according to the address book orwhether the gift icon is used. Furthermore, the gift icon managementmodule 330 is in conjunction with the address book, and, therefore,manages the download, use, and usable period expiration of the gifticon.

When one of products, provided by the product information managementmodule 320, is selected as a gift, a receipt terminal which will receivethe product is selected from the address book and settlement isfinished, and the control module 340 provides a gift icon correspondingto the product to the mobile terminal.

Furthermore, the control module 340 provides information about the gifticons which are managed by the gift icon management unit to the userterminal, and, in an application example, periodically provides a listof products to be provided as a gift for a certain period by a userterminal and information about the telephone numbers and e-mails of thereceipt terminal to the user terminal.

In an application example, in the wired terminal 110 and the receiptterminal 500, software (hereinafter referred to as a messenger) enablingmessages and data to be transmitted and received in real time through awired communication network is executed and an example of the messengeris illustrated in FIG. 13.

The wired terminal 110 includes a product information management module112, a gift icon management module 114 and a control module 116.

The product information management module 112 displays productinformation about a product requested or provided as a gift or URLinformation corresponding to the product information on the screen ofthe wired terminal 110 and the product information and the URLinformation are provided from the gift provision apparatus 300.

The gift icon management module 114 manages and provides a gift iconcorresponding to the product, and manages whether the gift icon has beenused. It is preferred that the gift icon be produced and provided by thegift provision apparatus 300.

Furthermore, although the management of the usable period, whether thegift icon has been used or the like, is performed by the wired terminal110, it is periodically transmitted to the gift provision apparatus 300,thereby enabling the gift provision apparatus 300 to perform integralmanagement.

When one of the products, provided by the product information managementmodule 112, is selected as a gift, a receipt terminal which will receiveor request the product is selected from the address book and settlementis finished, the control module 116 provides a gift icon to the receiptterminal through the messenger.

Furthermore, when a button for gift provision is displayed on the screenof the wired terminal 110, the control module 116 displays a settlementscreen related to gift provision and, when a button for request of thegift is selected, displays guide messages and the settlement screen onthe screen of the receipt terminal which will request a gift.

In the messenger executed in the wired terminal 110 and the receiptterminal 500, the telephone numbers of first and second mobile terminalsare respectively registered by the users of the wired terminal 110 andthe receipt terminal 500, so that transmitted and received gift iconsare transmitted to the first and second mobile terminals selected by auser or automatically registered.

The first and second mobile terminals are provided with a giftcorresponding to the gift icon in an affiliated shop appointed by thegift icon or receive a message prohibiting the usage of the gift iconfrom the gift provision apparatus 300 when the usable period of the gifticon has expired.

A First Embodiment

The operation of the present disclosure configured as described above isdescribed below.

FIG. 2 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

When the user terminal 100 is connected to the gift provision apparatus300 through the communication network 200, the gift provision apparatus300 provides information about a product to be provided as a gift to theuser terminal 100 at steps S210 and S220. An example of a wap pageprovided when the user terminal 100 is connected to the gift provisionapparatus 300 is illustrated in FIG. 5.

When information about images and their details are referred to for aplurality of products to be transmitted or received as a gift through awap page, reference number 510 or 520 of FIG. 5 are selected. Whenreference number 510 or 520 is selected, the wap page of FIG. 6 isdisplayed on the screen of the user terminal 100.

When the user of the user terminal 100 is provided with informationabout the products, and then selects one of products as a gift, anaddress book corresponding to the user terminal 100 is displayed on thescreen of the user terminal 100 as illustrated in FIG. 7 at step 230.

In the address book, an e-mail address is stored when the receiptterminal is a wired terminal and a telephone number for allowingreception of a short message or a multimedia message is stored when thereceipt terminal is a mobile terminal.

The user terminal 100 transmits a message requesting gift provisionwhich allows provision of a gift to a receipt terminal selected for theselected gift, or a message requesting gift reception which allowsreception of the gift to the gift provision apparatus 300 at step S240.

When receiving the message requesting gift reception, the gift provisionapparatus 300 provides a gift icon corresponding to the product to thereceipt terminal 500. In this case, the gift provision apparatus 300provides a wap page for settlement in order to request settlement ofaccounts for the gift to the user terminal 100, and, when the settlementhas finished, provides the icon of the gift to the receipt terminal 500.When the receipt terminal 500 accepts the gift icon, a message forcompletion of acceptance is registered in the gift provision apparatus300.

However, when the gift provision apparatus 300 receives the messagerequesting gift reception, that is, when the user of the user terminal100 asks the receipt terminal 500 to buy the gift, the gift provisionapparatus 300 delivers request details received from the user terminal500 to the receipt terminal 500 at step S250. An example of a web or awap page provided to the user terminal 100 by the gift provisionapparatus 300 according to a request for generation of the messagerequesting gift reception is illustrated in FIG. 8.

Through the web or wap page of FIG. 8, the user terminal 100 asks thereceipt terminal 500 having the telephone number 010-aaa-bbbb to buy atriangular roll.

The gift provision apparatus 300, having received an acceptance messagefrom the receipt terminal 500, provides a web or a wap page forsettlement of accounts for the gift to the receipt terminal 500, and,when the settlement is finished, provides a gift icon to the userterminal 100 at steps S260 and S270.

A Second Embodiment

FIG. 3 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a second embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In the second embodiment, when the user terminal registers and managesan address book of customers in the gift provision apparatus 300, amethod of providing a gift using the address book of customers in alump, which is provided from the gift provision apparatus 300.

The gift provision apparatus 300 provides information about products tobe provided as a gift to the user terminal 100 which is connected to thegift provision apparatus 300 through the communication network at stepsS310 and S320.

When the user terminal 100 selects a gift, an address book correspondingto the ID of the user terminal 100 is provided to the user terminal 100,the user terminal 100 selects the addresses of all customers stored inthe address book at steps S330 and S340. In an application example, itis possible for the user terminal 100 to select a particular customerfrom the list of the address book, and the address of the customer isthe telephone number of a mobile terminal.

When at least one recipient which will receive the product from theaddress book is selected, the gift provision apparatus 300 provides ashort message including a URL corresponding to the gift to the mobileterminal of the recipient at step S350.

When the mobile terminal 550 connects with the gift provision apparatus300 using the URL and then requests download of the gift, a gift iconcorresponding to the product is provided to the mobile terminal 110 atstep S360.

In the gift icon, at least one of a download period or a usable periodis set, and, when the period has expired, download and usage isprohibited. When the usable period has elapsed, or the gift icon hasbeen used, the gift provision apparatus 300 provides a use prohibitionmessage to the mobile terminal 550 at step S380.

In an application example, it is possible to register an acceptancecompletion message transmitted from the terminal of a shop in the giftprovision apparatus 300 when the recipient accepts the gift in the shop.

Furthermore, the gift icon is of a bar-code type, the gift provisionapparatus 300 authenticates the validity of the bar-code type gift icontransmitted from the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal of a predeterminedshop, and transmits an authentication code corresponding to completionof the authentication to the POS terminal. When the authentication codehas been received, the use of the bar-code type gift icon is permitted,and the POS terminal transmits the acceptance completion message for thegift icon to the gift provision apparatus.

A Third Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift usinga communication network according to a third embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In the third embodiment, the addresses of customers are grouped, so thatit is possible to provide a gift for each group in a lump sum. A methodof making amends, such as refund, to the user of a user terminal fornon-usage although a gift is selected and then settlement has beenfinished when a customer does not use a gift icon, is described below.

After an address book of grouped customers from the user terminal 100connected to the gift provision apparatus 300 through a communicationnetwork has been registered in the gift provision apparatus 300,information about products to be provided as a gift is provided to theuser terminal 100 connected to the gift provision apparatus 300 at stepsS410 and S420. When the user terminal 100 selects a predetermined gift,the gift provision apparatus 300 provides the address book registered bythe user terminal 100 to the user terminal 100 at steps S430 and S440.

In an application example, in the case where the address book of groupedcustomers is stored in the memory of the user terminal 100, when theuser terminal 100 selects a predetermined product as a gift, the addressbook stored in the user terminal 100 is displayed on the screen of theuser terminal 100.

When at least one group is selected from the address book, the giftprovision apparatus 300 transmits a wap page for settlement to the userterminal 100 at step S450.

An example of the wap page for settlement is illustrated in FIG. 9. Whenan item for adding the accounts for the gift to a charge billed to themobile terminal is selected, in the wap page of the FIG. 9, items to beinput by the user of the user terminal 100 are displayed.

When settlement is performed by transferring money or using a creditcard in the user terminal 100, a gift icon corresponding to the productis provided to mobile terminals or e-mail addresses belonging to thegroup at step S460 and S470.

For the gift icon, a usable period is set, so that the gift provisionapparatus 300 provides a message guiding repayment of moneycorresponding to the gift icon which has not been used in the usableperiod or conversion to a reserve to the user terminal 100, and, at thesame time, or sequentially transmits the usage prohibition message forthe gift icon to the mobile terminal or the user terminal in which thegift icon, the usable period has expired, resides at steps s480, S490and S495.

The gift provision apparatus 300 provides contents for gifts providedfor a predetermined period to the user terminal, and, if the gift iconis received by the user terminal, that is, an e-mail, or the ID of theuser terminal provided by the gift provision apparatus 300, it ispossible to register the gift icon in [My Page] as illustrated in FIG.10 and manage it.

A Fourth Embodiment

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting andreceiving a gift icon using a messenger according to a fourth embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, the user terminal 100 and the receipt terminal 500respectively operate software (hereinafter referred to as a messenger)enabling messages and data to be transmitted and received in real timethrough a wired communication network, thereby connecting with eachother. A messenger window is displayed on a screen as illustrated inFIG. 13 at step S1110.

When a flash-con menu 1320 is selected in the messenger window 1300illustrated in FIG. 13, information about a product corresponding to agift is displayed, and, a [make a gift] or [ask for a gift] item isdisplayed at step S1120 when a mouse pointer is placed on the product.

In the state in which the mouse pointer is placed on a desired productin the messenger window 1300 of FIG. 13, when [make a gift] item 1340 isselected from [make a gift] item 1340 or [ask for a gift] item 1360, atransmission window as illustrated in FIG. 14 is displayed, and thetelephone number of the receipt terminal which will receive the gifticon corresponding to the product in the transmission window is input atsteps S1130 and S1140.

In an application example, when there are a plurality of receiptterminals which will receive the gift icon, the transmission window asillustrated in FIG. 15 is displayed, so that it is possible to input thetelephone number of the plurality of receipt terminals and transmit thegift icon.

When settlement for the gift has finished, the terminal transmits thegift icon to the receipt terminals through the messenger, and thetransmission windows 1610 and 1630 for gift icons respectively displayedin the user terminal 100 of a sender which transmits the gift icon andthe terminal of a receiver are displayed in FIG. 16 at steps S1150 andS1160.

In an application example, when the gift icon is transmitted to thereceipt terminal 500, it is possible to provide a predetermined shortmessage including a URL in which the gift icon is stored to the mobileterminal which is in conjunction with the receipt terminal 500 (seereference numbers 1650 of FIG. 16)

When the mobile terminal connects with the gift provision apparatus 300using the URL and requests the download of the gift, the gift iconcorresponding to the product is provided to the mobile terminal.

A Fifth Embodiment

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method of transmitting andreceiving a gift icon using a messenger according to a fifth embodimentof the present disclosure.

When the user terminal 100 and the receipt terminal 500 respectivelyoperating software (hereinafter referred to as a messenger) that enablesmessages and data to be transmitted and received in real time through awired communication network connect with each other, a messenger window1300 as illustrated in FIG. 13 is displayed at step S1200.

When a flash con menu 1320 is selected in the messenger window displayedin the screen of the user terminal 100, information about productscorresponding to gifts is displayed and, when the mouse pointer isplaced on one of the products, a [make a gift] item and [ask for a gift]item are displayed at step S1210.

When the mouse pointer is placed on a desired product in the messengerwindow 400 of FIG. 13 and [ask for a gift] item 1360 is selected from[make a gift] item 1340 and [ask for a gift] item 1360, that is, a giftrequest item, is selected, a transmission window as in FIG. 14 isdisplayed. The telephone number of the receipt terminal which willrequest a gift icon corresponding to the product is input on thetransmission window and the gift request message is then transmitted tothe receipt terminal 500 at steps S1220 and S1230.

In an application example, if there are a plurality of receipt terminalswhich request the gift icon, it is possible to input the telephonenumbers of the plurality of receipt terminal and transmit the gift icon.

When the receipt terminal 500 selects an acceptance message for giftrequest, the gift icon corresponding to the product is transmitted tothe user terminal 100 or the first mobile terminal connected to theterminal at steps S1240 and S1250. The first mobile terminal is a mobileterminal registered in the messenger by the user of the user terminal100, and the second mobile terminal is a mobile terminal registered inthe messenger by the user of the receipt terminal 500.

Referring to FIG. 17, in an application example, the messenger windowindicated by reference number 1710 is displayed on the user terminal 100after the gift request message has been transmitted to the receiptterminal 500. When the receipt terminal 500 has accepted the giftrequest and settlement has been finished, a message indicated byreference number 1730 is transmitted to the first mobile terminal. InFIG. 18, a messenger window 1800 which is displayed in the receiptterminal 500 according to the gift request of the user terminal 500, asettlement window 820 enabling settlement after acceptance of the giftrequest, and a messenger window 1840 after the settlement has beenfinished are displayed.

In this case, at least one of information about the user terminal 100 orthe mobile terminal which receives the gift icon, and the downloadperiod and usable period of the gift icon is set and is recorded in thegift provision apparatus 300. When the gift icon has been used, or theusable period has expired, the gift provision apparatus 300 prohibitsthe gift icon from being used anymore and then transmits the useprohibition message for the gift icon to the mobile terminal whichdownloaded the gift icon.

Furthermore, when a user having the gift icon accepts the gift in apredetermined shop, an acceptance completion message transmitted fromthe terminal of the shop is registered in the gift provision apparatus300, thereby prohibiting the gift icon to be used again.

In an application example, the usable period of the gift icon is set, sothat a message guiding repayment of money corresponding to the gift iconwhich has not been used in the usable period or conversion istransmitted to a terminal which settles accounts for the gift icon.Furthermore, it is possible to provide contents for gift iconstransmitted for a predetermined period to the user terminal 100 or thereceipt terminal 500.

When the gift icon is transmitted to the user terminal 100 or the firstmobile terminal, a button for replying for the screen of the userterminal 100 or the first mobile terminal is displayed.

In an application example, when the gift icon is transmitted to the userterminal 100, it is possible for the user terminal 100 to download thegift icon to the first mobile terminal.

Another application example is described with reference to FIG. 19 indetail. When the receipt terminal 500 requests transmission of the gifticon, a guide message for the gift icon is transmitted to the screen ofthe first mobile terminal as in reference number 1910, and, whendownload of the gift icon has been completed by the user of the firstmobile terminal (see reference numbers 1920 and 1930), a button for[return] as in reference number 1940 displayed on the screen of thefirst mobile terminal is generated at step S1260.

In this case, when the button for [return] is selected by a user, asillustrated in FIG. 19, gift information or a gift list (not shown) isdisplayed to enable the user to select at least one gift by way ofreturn. A procedure for settlement after selection of the gift is sameas illustrated above (S1270).

When the button for return is selected and a gift is determined, a gifticon corresponding to the gift is transmitted to the receipt terminal500 or the second mobile terminal at step S1280.

A Sixth Embodiment

FIG. 21 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a sixth embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

When connection with the gift provision apparatus 300 is performedthrough a mobile communication network, a wap page as illustrated inFIG. 24 is displayed and then information about products correspondingto a gift is provided to the mobile terminal 130 through the wap page2400 at steps S2110 and S2120.

Referring to the wap page 2400 of FIG. 24, the wap page 2400 includes agift provision button 2410, a gift request button 2420 and a gift listproviding information about the products. It is possible to select oneof the gifts from the gift list 2450 displayed after the gift provisionbutton 2410 has been selected, and acquire information 2470 aboutproducts corresponding to a gift.

In an application example, when one of buttons indicated by referencenumber 2430 is selected in the wap page 2400, information about theselected product 2470 is displayed.

When a product is selected, the wap page indicated by reference number2490 is displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal 130, and when[search address book] item 2492 is selected, the address book stored inthe mobile terminal 130 is displayed. The receipt terminal 500 whichwill receive a gift icon corresponding to the product is selected fromthe address book at step S2130.

In an application example, in the wap page indicated by reference number2490, item 2494 for enabling the telephone number or e-mail of thereceipt terminal to be input is included.

When the mobile terminal 130 selects a button 2410 for provision of thegift icon, a message requesting gift provision is transmitted to thegift provision apparatus 300, and the gift icon according to the messagerequesting gift provision is provided to the receipt terminal 500 atsteps S2140 and S2150.

Additionally, when the mobile terminal 130 selects the provision button,a wap page for settlement is displayed on the mobile terminal 130, andwhen the settlement has been finished, the gift icon is provided to thereceipt terminal 500.

The gift icon is received as a short message having a URL as illustratedin reference number 2600 of FIG. 26, and when the URL 2610 is selected,the screen as illustrated in reference number 2620 is displayed on thereceipt terminal 500. In this case, when the button 2630 for download ofthe gift icon is selected and the gift icon has been downloaded from agift provision apparatus 300 or a predetermined server connected throughthe URL, the button 2650 for return is displayed. An example of the gifticon downloaded is illustrated in FIG. 28.

FIG. 27 illustrates information about the products or a gift listdisplayed on the screen of the receipt terminal 500 when the receiptterminal 500 selects the button 2650 for return.

When the button 2650 for return is selected, and then the gift isselected, the telephone number 2710 of the mobile terminal providing thegift icon to the receipt terminal is displayed and, it is possible for auser to additionally input the telephone number of another terminal atsteps S2160 and S2165.

Therefore, the gift icon corresponding to the product is transmitted tothe terminal of the receipt terminal at step S2170.

The usable period of the gift icon is set, so that a message guidingrepayment of money corresponding to the gift icon which has not beenused in the usable period or conversion to a reserve is transmitted tothe mobile terminal 130 and the receipt terminal 500 sequentially or atthe same time at steps S2180, S2190, and S2195.

In an application example, the gift icon has a bar-code type, the giftprovision apparatus 300 authenticates the validity of the bar-code typegift icon transmitted from the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal of apredetermined shop, and transmits an authentication code correspondingto completion of the authentication to the POS terminal. When theauthentication code has been received, the use of the bar-code type gifticon is permitted, and the POS terminal transmits the acceptancecompletion message for the gift icon to the gift provision apparatus.

A Seventh Embodiment

FIG. 22 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a seventh embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In the seventh embodiment, a method of providing a gift icon when theuser of the mobile terminal 130 selects a button 2520 for asking for agift, that is, a button requesting gift reception is described below.

Information about products corresponding to a gift is provided to themobile terminal 130, connected with the gift provision apparatus 300through a mobile communication network, along with the wap page 2500 ofFIG. 25 at steps S2210 and S2220.

When the mobile terminal 130 selects the product, an address book isdisplayed, and the mobile terminal which will request settlement for agift corresponding to the product selects at least one from the addressbook at step S2230.

When the mobile terminal 130 selects a button 2540 requesting receptionof the gift icon, the message requesting gift reception is transmittedto the gift provision apparatus 300, and the gift provision apparatus300 delivers the message requesting gift provision to the receipt mobileterminal 500 at steps S2240 and S2250.

The receipt mobile terminal 500 receives the message requesting giftreception as illustrated in FIG. 29, verifies contents 2910 included inthe message requesting gift reception, and selects a message foraccepting the gift request. When settlement has been finished, the gifticon is transmitted to the mobile terminal 130 at steps S2260 and S2270.

When the receipt mobile terminal 500 selects the message for acceptingthe gift request, a predetermined short message including a URL in whichthe gift icon corresponding to the product is stored, is transmitted tothe mobile terminal 300 which have asked for the gift.

Thereafter, when the mobile terminal 130 performs connection using theURL and requests download of the gift icon, the gift icon as illustratedin FIG. 28 is downloaded.

The construction in which the button for return is displayed on themobile terminal 130, having received the gift icon at steps S2280 toS2290, and a predetermined gift is selected and is then transmitted to acounterpart terminal which has provided the gift icon, is identical tothat illustrated in the sixth embodiment.

Furthermore, when a user having the gift icon accepts the gift in apredetermined shop, an acceptance completion message transmitted fromthe terminal of the shop is registered in the gift provision apparatus300, thereby prohibiting the gift icon to be used over again.

In an application example, the gift icon has a bar-code type, the giftprovision apparatus 300 authenticates the validity of the bar-code typegift icon transmitted from the POS (Point Of Sale) terminal of apredetermined shop, and transmits an authentication code correspondingto completion of the authentication to the POS terminal. When theauthentication code has been received, the use of the bar-code type gifticon is permitted, and the POS terminal transmits the acceptancecompletion message for the gift icon to the gift provision apparatus.

An Eighth Embodiment

FIG. 23 is a message flow illustrating a method of providing a gift iconusing a mobile terminal according to a eighth embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

When information about products corresponding to a gift is provided tothe mobile terminal 130 connected with the gift provision apparatus 300through the mobile communication network and one of the products is thenselected, the gift provision apparatus 300 provides an address bookwhich is in conjunction with the mobile terminal 130 and enablesselection of at least one group from the address book at steps S2310,S2320, S2330 and S2340.

When the mobile terminal 130 selects the button for provision of thegift icon, the gift icon is transmitted as described in the sixth andseventh embodiments at steps S2350 and S2360.

The gift provision apparatus 300 provides contents for gift iconstransmitted for a predetermined period to the mobile terminal or thereceipt terminal which has settled the accounts for the gift icons atsteps S2370 and S2375.

Referring to FIG. 30, if [My gifticon] item 3100 related to theprovision, reception and management of the gift icon is selected in awap page provided when the mobile terminal is connected with the giftprovision apparatus 300, a wap page indicated by reference number 3110is provided, and an item indicated by reference number 3120 is selectedwhen it is desired to see contents of gift icons transmitted by themobile terminal.

When the [see contents of sent gifticon] item indicated by referencenumber 3120 is selected, a list indicating which gift icon istransmitted and who had received a gift icon is displayed in the wappage as illustrated in reference numbers 3140 and 3160. In anapplication example, the list of reference numbers 3140 and 3160 hasbeen stored in the memory of the mobile terminal 130, so that it ispossible to read the list.

If the [see contents of received gifticon] item indicated by referencenumber 3130 is selected, a list of gift icons is displayed as referenceicon 3150, and when one of them is selected, detailed information 3155about the gift icons is provided.

In this case, it is possible to download 3170 one of gift iconsaccording to a user's selection and store it in the memory of the mobileterminal 130. An example of the downloaded gift icon is illustrated inFIG. 28. In an application example, the gift icon has a more-onedimensional bar-code type.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for providing a gift icon using acommunication network, the system comprising a user terminal configuredto receive information about products, select a product, and receiveinformation about a selection of at least one receipt terminal toreceive the selected product, information about whether the receiptterminal receives a gift icon corresponding to the selected product ornot, and information about whether the gift icon has been used or not;and a gift provision apparatus configured to provide the informationabout products to the user terminal, provide the gift icon to thereceipt terminal, and manage downloading, using, and usable periodexpiring of the gift icon.
 2. The system as set forth in claim 1,wherein the user terminal is further configured to request a giftprovision for each group included in an address book, which is inconjunction with the user terminal.
 3. The system as set forth in claim1, wherein the user terminal and the receipt terminal are user terminalsor mobile terminals.
 4. The system as set forth in claim 3, wherein eachof the user terminal and the receipt terminal is configured to operate asoftware for transmitting and receiving messages or data in real timethrough the communication network, and transmit and receive the gifticon through the software.
 5. The system as set forth in claim 4,further comprising: a receipt terminal configured to download the gifticon from the gift provision apparatus, store the downloaded gift icon,and receive a gift corresponding to the gift icon from an affiliatedshop appointed by the gift icon, or receive a message prohibiting a useof the gift icon from the gift provision apparatus when a usable periodof the gift icon has expired.
 6. The system as set forth in claim 5,wherein the receipt terminal is configured to display a button forreturning on a screen after a reception of the gift icon, and when thebutton for returning and a predetermined product are selected, transmita gift icon corresponding to the predetermined product to a counterpartterminal which have transmitted the gift icon to the receipt terminal.7. The system as set forth in claim 6, wherein the gift provisionapparatus is further configured to transmit the message prohibiting theuse of the gift icon to the receipt terminal which have received thegift icon when the product corresponding to the gift icon is accepted inthe appointed affiliated shop and when the usable period of the gifticon has expired.